


Asking For Trouble

by lildropofmagic



Series: Asking for Trouble [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Competitive Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:01:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28482081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lildropofmagic/pseuds/lildropofmagic
Summary: Fives enjoys the bantering, competitive rapport that he has with his commander, but he can't deny that it does sometimes have unexpected consequences.
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano & Clones, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & Ahsoka Tano, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives/Ahsoka Tano
Series: Asking for Trouble [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162214
Comments: 17
Kudos: 77





	Asking For Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the Star Wars universe. 
> 
> This has been sitting on my computer for a few days but it didn't feel like 2020 deserved it. Time to start the New Year right with a BIG dollop of fluff and giggles. Here's hoping for better things in the months ahead.

Fives hefted the crate of supplies so that it was more secure in his arms, and strode behind Commander Tano as she cleared a path through the bioluminescent vegetation. Felucia.  _ Again. _ Why was it always kriffing Felucia?

Fortunately, an attack by the Seppies was unlikely now that the 501st and 212th had made short work of gutting their latest attempt to establish a base on this infernal planet. Seriously, was it so hard for Felucia to go a single standard month without being invaded? 

At least the commander hadn’t gone missing this time. They’d all known that a repeat disappearance had been highly unlikely but that hadn’t stopped General Skywalker positioning a dozen squads on her flanks and all troopers, Fives included, had consciously kept an eye on her position at all times. Excessive it may have been but  _ that _ (take note, kriffing Wolf Pack) was how you kept your Jedi safe.

Commander Tano had been exasperated by the over-protectiveness and her mood clearly hadn’t been improved by Fives commenting, “Congratulations on avoiding abduction this time, sir,” when he saw her after the final droid had been slashed through with one of her sabers. 

Her bright blue eyes had narrowed on him. “Ha  _ karking  _ ha, Fives.”

He’d paid for his teasing comment by being  _ specially _ chosen to help her deliver supplies to some farmer friends of hers, hence their trek through the humid, glowing plant life. 

He flinched as a large leaf slapped into his helmet - she’d prematurely released it after pushing it aside from where it had blocked their path. 

“Oops,” came the carefree comment over her shoulder.

“Yeah, that’d be more convincing if that wasn’t the third time it’d happened,” he told her dryly. 

She sent a mischievous grin back at him this time and he smiled despite himself - not that she could see it. This was very familiar territory for them both. Somehow, over the past couple of years, they had developed a distinctive rapport based mostly on teasing, goading comments and defiant challenges. 

The other troopers tended to groan loudly whenever he and the commander started baiting each other, but Fives knew that they secretly enjoyed watching them go back and forth. And, what was more, he knew that Ahsoka liked it too. She was ever full of energy, but there was always an added vibrancy in her demeanour and a brightness in her eyes when their game began once more. She wasn’t Commander Tano in those moments, she was just Ahsoka - a sentient who was looking for a bit of fun and entertainment to escape the demands of war, just like the clones. He never  _ quite _ forgot that she was his commander, though, and there was a line he very deliberately never crossed: he respected her too much for that. 

He smirked when he recalled what he considered to be their first battle. Senator Amidala had sent a large package of sweet pastries to Torrent Company and the two Jedi as a gesture of her gratitude for them coming to her aid when she’d found herself in a spot of bother. The delicious treats had disappeared in the blink of an eye until there was only one left. Fives found himself conveniently close to the sole pastry and fully intended to take it for himself despite the fact that he’d already had one, but his commander was also hovering close by and her fingers darted to the food before Fives could beat her to it. 

“ _ Snips _ ,” General Skywalker said reproachfully.

The young togruta had frowned and looked up at Fives. He had only been with the 501st for a few days and fully intended to surrender the pastry to his commander. He didn’t know what she saw in his expression but she suddenly grinned mischievously. He didn’t know it at the time but it was an expression that he would become extremely familiar with in the coming years. “Here you go Fives, all yours,” she told him innocently. He was about to protest that she could keep it when, to everyone’s astonishment, she quickly licked the pastry from end to end and then held it out to him.

There were plenty of sniggers from his brothers and another disapproving comment from Skywalker but Fives was stuck on the impish, victorious grin on her face. He didn’t like losing, no matter the context. So, without thinking about it for more than two seconds, he plucked the offered pastry out of her hand and put the whole thing in his mouth. The stunned look on her face was even more satisfying than the pastry, and he smirked around his mouthful of sweet, buttery food. He swallowed and then said smoothly, “Thank you very much, Commander.”

There had been a beat of surprised silence in the room before Skywalker had burst into a hearty laugh, swiftly followed by the other clones. “Serves you right, Snips!”

She had been staring at Fives with wide eyes but then she shrugged and grinned at him. “You’re gross, Fives.” 

“You’re the one that licked it, Commander,” he pointed out. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to get one over me.”

The next day, she had absolutely wrecked him on one of the training mats. Captain Rex had been training her up in hand-to-hand combat since she’d joined the 501st and she’d apparently improved so much that the more experienced troopers avoided going near her. When she’d called over a challenge to him, there was no way that he was going to turn her down. He lost count of how many different ways she got him to submit during that first session but even now, over two years on, he was one of the only clones who would still take her on. She still kicked his shebs on the regular but he’d learned from every encounter they’d had and he usually managed to give her a good fight. Their bouts certainly drew a crowd but no one was foolish enough to bet against the commander. 

They managed to find ways to challenge each other outside of the training room, which Fives preferred because it gave him more of a chance of winning. They’d competed against each other in every type of card game available until the troopers got bored of them ‘ruining the fun’ by focusing on eliminating each other rather than taking part in the game as a whole. 

They could also find ridiculous things to get competitive over. Last month, Ahsoka had rolled her eyes when he’d told Tup not to translate the Mando’a swear he’d uttered about Grievous.

“For kriff’s sake, Fives, I’m not a little kid,” she’d told him, eyes sparking defiantly as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I probably know more curse words than you.”

Challenge accepted. 

Victor: Ahsoka - much to Fives and the other clones’ surprise. Apparently, younglings at the Jedi Temple weren’t as serene and genteel as the Masters expected them to be and had knowledge of a lot of different languages thanks to their diverse backgrounds. General Skywalker was also very versatile in Huttese swears and had managed (probably unintentionally) to pass them down to his Padawan as a part of his legacy.

Another ridiculous competition had seen them trying to outdo each other in pranking his brothers. The number of clones they could get to swear counted as their score (which, thinking back on it, was probably how she managed to pick up so many Mando’a curses). Fives held the lead in their competition after releasing a swarm of sandwasps into the mess during their deployment to Ord Cestus. The exact number of brothers swearing had been incalculable but it was certainly more than when Ahsoka had scared the kriff out of the men by pretending to be a spectre haunting Torrent’s barracks (she’d been lucky not to have been shot, because a clearly-spooked Jesse had been seconds away from firing his blaster in her direction). The aftermath of the sandwasps incident had led to Fives being assigned a shit-ton of clean up as punishment, but he hadn’t really minded because Rex and Skywalker had basically ordered him and Ahsoka to end the pranks, which meant that Fives would be able to keep his victory crown for all time. 

He felt a small twinge as he recalled how much Echo had disliked the pranking competition. In fact, Echo really hadn’t approved of many of his interactions with Ahsoka. The only one his batchmate had enjoyed was when they’d tried to prove who had better knowledge of the GAR regs. They’d appointed Echo to be in charge of the quiz and he’d spent hours compiling his questions, only for it to turn out that neither Fives nor Ahsoka knew the regs well enough to score more than a handful of points. 

“That’s alright,” Echo had said cheerfully when they apologised for wasting his time. “It was hardly a waste when you’ve both learned a lot through this game, right? Learning about some of the more obscure regs is fun, isn’t it?” There were only weak replies in response. 

Thoughts of Echo brought Fives’s mind to the Citadel and he didn’t  _ want _ to think about the Citadel. He allowed himself to pause momentarily to recall the defiant look on Ahsoka’s face when he saw that she’d sneaked herself onto the mission. Fives knew he couldn’t take sole credit for her unexpected assignment to the rescue, but he suspected that his previous attempt to reassure her that it was better that she not come due to the high level of danger had definitely helped in goading her to tag along: if Fives suggested that she not do something, she would often do it anyway. Admittedly, he sometimes used that to his advantage to get a rise out of her or instigate one of their head-to-heads, but sometimes she’d react before he even realised what he’d said. 

They’d taken her to 79’s to celebrate her return after those kriffing trandoshans had tried to hunt her down for sport. Skywalker had been reluctant to let her go to a club given that she was underage at the time, but she’d worn him down and the brothers had promised to look after her (they’d only just gotten her back, they weren’t going to let her out of their sight). Tano’s wheedling ability was strong enough that she was even able to convince Skywalker to give Rex the credits to buy her a  _ single _ glass of a bubbly wine. 

The blue of the 501st was spread out all over the bar and the boys were in a jubilant mood after a week of worrying over the fate of their esteemed commander. Fives was beyond relieved to have her back. Not having their brilliant, brave, battler of a Jedi commander there was bad enough, but not having  _ her _ , Ahsoka, around to tease and brighten up his day with her smile and her mischief had been like a vibroblade in the gut. 

He noticed that her wine disappeared quickly but Rex was apparently impervious to the coaxing that had won Skywalker over because the captain refused to buy her another drink. After a few minutes, she let the matter drop with a pout but then dragged Hardcase away to dance with her. Looking back on it, that should have struck them all as dangerous from the start but everyone was having too much fun to think much of it. It was only when Rex left to use the fresher that Ahsoka’s strategy was revealed. She’d managed to convince Hardcase to buy a round of shots for their table and waited for Rex to be out of the way before bringing them over. Fives would have been cheered by the sight were it not for the shot clutched in Ahsoka’s own hand, showing that she obviously intended to have one herself. He recognised the oily-black alcohol as the rough spirit that was only bought because it was the cheapest and quickest way to get you hammered. 

Fives shook his head. “You can’t drink that, Ahsoka - Rex’ll be able to smell it on you five klicks away!” 

As soon as he’d said the word  _ can’t _ , her excited, light-hearted air morphed into a familiar feisty defiance and she’d tipped the shot down her throat a split second after he’d finished speaking. The men laughed and cheered and Fives grinned despite his exasperation and certainty that Rex wasn’t going to be happy. Ahsoka’s mouth twisted into a grimace in obvious distaste and he was about to laugh when she grabbed the tray of drinks out of Hardcase’s hands and started tossing the shots back like her life depended on it. 

_ Shab _ .

His breath choked in his throat and, for a moment, the whole group of brothers were paralysed with shock. Reacting first, Fives darted forwards and wrenched the tray away from her before she could take any more, but she’d still managed to drink four additional shots on top of her first one. 

“Bleurgh,” she murmured and shuddered, her face screwing up in response to the relative engine fuel she’d just downed. 

“You kriffing  _ or’dinii _ ,” Fives growled, holding out a hand to steady her when she swayed slightly. 

She opened one eye, leaving the other still screwed shut. “What?”

“He called you a moron,” Kix told her, a deeply unimpressed expression on his face. “That would be my medical diagnosis as well given that stunt you just pulled.” 

Both eyes now open, Ahsoka shrugged off Fives’ stabilising hand. “‘Mfine,” she stated, waving the medic away. “Don’ fuss, Kix. Is jus’ a bit o’fun,” she slurred, placing a hand against her stomach.

“What’s going on here?” came a suspicious voice. Rex had returned. Kriff.

Ahsoka’s expression became ecstatic and she threw her arms out, nearly smacking Kix and Fives in the face. “Rexter!” she cried delightedly, bounding over to him and wrapping her arms around his chest. Rex took a step back at her enthusiastic embrace and then pinned an accusatory gaze on Fives. 

“You gave her a shot,” Rex alleged, and Fives realized that he was still holding the tray of drinks.

“No - ” he began to defend himself but Ahsoka interrupted.

“I had four!” she told Rex gleefully, pushing away from his plastoid chest to grin at him and then she frowned. “Or maybe five, I don’ remember.” 

Rex glared at him as Ahsoka promptly decided that it was the appropriate time for more dancing, making the space between the three brothers her own personal dance floor. 

“What the kriff were you thinking, Fives?” Rex asked, momentarily lifting a hand to his head in irritation. 

“It wasn’t me, Rex. I told her not to,” Fives replied, letting Ahsoka lift his free arm so that she could turn under it.

Rex looked at Kix. “He did,” Kix confirmed, “but, if anything, that just spurred her on. You know what those two are like,” he told Rex, shaking his head as he watched Ahsoka’s tipsy dancing. 

“You and your kriffing competitions,” Rex muttered. “You’ve really done it this time. Skywalker’s going to be furious.”

“Oh, come on, Rex, this is hardly my fault,” Fives objected. Ahsoka had both of Kix’s hands in her own and was trying to coerce him to dance with her. Fives took the opportunity of her distraction to put the shot tray at the back of their table where it would be very difficult for her to reach them.

“You’re the one that’s always winding Ahsoka up,” Rex argued. “It’s like you’re asking for trouble. Take some responsibility, would you? I’m gonna get her some water.” 

Fives let out an indignant huff as Rex walked away. This  _ wasn’t _ his fault. He briefly shot a dirty look in Hardcase’s direction for leaving him to take the blame. When he looked back, Ahsoka was suddenly before him, tense and still. 

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Ahsoka?”

Kix laid a hand on her shoulder, expression worried. “Kriff, I think she’s gonna - ”

But before Kix could finish his sentence, Ahsoka had grabbed the helmet that had been clipped to Fives’s belt and threw up into it. 

“ _ Karking hell _ ,” Fives hissed, putting out a hand to stabilise her even as he felt a wave of misery over the fate of his helmet.

Rex, Kix and Fives had taken her back to the 501st’s barracks after that - there was no way that they could return her to the temple in that state. Fives had disposed of his vomit-filled helmet at the earliest opportunity and tried to ignore the smirk Rex sent his way that heavily implied that Fives had got what he’d deserved for his rivalry with Ahsoka.

She sought Fives out the next day, her gaze initially self-conscious and unable to meet his own. “I’ve put in a requisition for a new ARC helmet for you,” she told him - or rather, told his elbow. “But it won’t get here for a while so I thought that, if you want or you have time, I could help you paint this spare one I brought up from the armoury.” She looked up at him as she revealed the helmet she’d been hiding behind her back. Fives, uncomfortable with and disliking the meek version of Ahsoka in front of him, had been frowning when she lifted her face to his and she cringed away at the sight of his expression. “It was just an idea. I know painting armour is really personal to you all, I shouldn’t have presumed - ”

“Ahsoka,” he said firmly in an attempt to cut off her babbling. “That wasn’t - I mean, that’s not,” Kriff, he could feel his face heating up at this sudden inability to form coherent sentences. “That sounds good,” he lamely ground out. 

She smiled tentatively at him, still clutching the helmet. “I’m really sorry about your old helmet.”

“It’s fine,” he told her easily. 

“No, it isn’t,” she maintained and took a deep breath. “My master said that my actions last night were foolish, impulsive and irresponsible - quite unbecoming of a Jedi.” Her lips twisted grimly and her shoulders sank a little as she sighed. “And he was right.” 

Fives had immense respect for General Skywalker, but in his opinion, that was a pretty stinging set of criticisms to level at someone who’d just got a bit carried away on a night out. Fives had seen Ahsoka deal with everything this damned war had thrown at her and she’d come fighting through it all when so many others would have stumbled and fallen. The general should cut her some slack. Fives wanted to tell her all this and more but he didn’t know how. 

“So what if you weren’t being particularly Jedi-like?” he said with a casual shrug. “If you acted like the Jedi Masters all the time then I wouldn’t like you half as much as I do. Besides, it’s not like it’s the first time you’ve thrown up in front of everyone.” 

The stripes on her lekku had already been a deeper blue than normal but he noticed that they darkened even more at that, and the usual spark of vitality returned to her eyes as she prodded the helmet at his chest. “Yeah, well, you did too!” 

He grinned, even though the memory wasn’t particularly pleasant. [An eating competition between them where they each had to ingest food that they considered disgusting but their challenger thought was perfectly edible. Ashoka, a carnivore, refused to eat vegetables whenever the mess served something other than ration cubes, so the galley had stewed some cabbage leaves overnight for her. The bowl she was presented with looked like green slime and had such a pungent odour that all of the clones that had come to watch donned their helmets to try and filter out the stench. Fives, on the other hand, had to deal with the reeking cabbage  _ and _ a plate containing three skinned but raw rats, tails still attached. 

“You know, neither of you have to do this,” General Skywalker had said, his nose wrinkling in distaste at the sights and smells before him. 

Fives glanced over at Ahsoka, hoping that she’d pull out. He  _ really _ didn’t want to eat raw rat but if she stayed in the game then he knew he had no choice. Ahsoka met his eyes and he could tell that she wanted to quit but she was too damn stubborn to do so. Kriff, he was really going to have to do it. 

“I’m ready, master,” she told Skywalker even though she was still staring belligerently at Fives.

“Let’s do this,” he shot back with a confidence he didn’t feel. 

Skywalker sighed. “Fine. First to clear their plate or bowl wins, I guess. You can start.”

The troopers yelled their support from the sanctuary of their helmets and Fives tried not to flinch at the chilled, slimy texture of the rat he picked up. He wished he’d worn his gloves. Before he could think about it anymore, he ripped off a strip of flesh with his teeth and swallowed quickly. He repeated the process as fast as possible to get the ordeal over with and claim his win. 

“Ugh,” Ahsoka shuddered after swallowing the first few mouthfuls of cabbage. “This is revolting.” 

“Maybe,” Fives allowed around another bite of rat. He was over halfway through his first one even though his stomach was writhing unpleasantly. “But you actually  _ like _ this.” He waved the offending creature in her direction and tried not to wince as the tail nearly hit him in the face.

She noticed though. “You know you need to eat the whole thing right?” she said, forcing down another slimy spoonful with a wince of her own. “That  _ includes _ the tail.” 

Fives froze and glanced over at Skywalker. The Jedi shrugged. “I  _ did _ say you have to clear the plate, Fives.”

Sensing their wavering brother, the clones shouted louder - both for and against him depending on which way they’d placed their bet. Fives gritted his teeth and then forced himself to take another kriffing bite. 

Ahsoka made a retching sound next to him and he forced himself not to listen because that  _ really _ wasn’t helping his own unhappy stomach.

Before he could stop himself, he looked at the waiting rats on his plate or, more specifically, at their tails, and his gut clenched painfully. Shab. 

Ahsoka made a heaving noise again and Fives screwed his eyes shut, hoping that would somehow block her out.

“I’m halfway,” she said, though she sounded miserable. “If you can’t choke one of those tails down soon you’ve no chance of winning, Fives.”

He glared at her. Lifted the rat towards his mouth again, braced himself, and bit down on its tail. His stomach immediately responded with,  _ kriff this, _ and he chucked up all the undigested rat onto the floor. The crowd backed away and Fives slumped back in his seat with a groan, pushing the plate of rats far away from him. 

He glanced over at Ahsoka and saw that she was staring at him with wide eyes. “You win,” he said gruffly.

She blinked at him, softly said, “Great,” and then threw up into her bowl of cabbage slime. 

Fives sighed and accepted the water that Echo offered him. “Well, this was stupid.”]

Tales of that particular competition had spread throughout the GAR, and Fives was still asked about it whenever he worked with another battalion or legion. His stomach clenched at the recollection of the tail in his mouth but he pushed it aside as he focused on his objective of cheering Ahsoka up. “Exactly, you chucking up is no big deal. Skywalker thought it was funny last time. He’ll soon be teasing you about knocking back five shots in less than fifteen seconds - and I’ll bet he’ll be lamenting the fact that he didn’t witness it for himself.” 

A grin spread across her face and she chuckled.

“Now, I’ve got a couple hours of downtime,” he told her, “so why don’t we paint this helmet and, while it’s drying, we can have a few bouts on the training mat. I feel good about my chances today.” 

She reached out and clutched the gloved fingers of his left hand. She could have placed a hand anywhere on his upper body but he knew that she wanted him to be able to feel it without the plastoid in the way. “Thanks, Fives.” She squeezed his fingers and he curled his round hers in return, which created a feeling in his chest he didn’t want to acknowledge. “But I’m still going to kick your butt.” 

And she did.

The Felucian village finally came into view, breaking Fives out of his long reverie. He eagerly looked forward to depositing the heavy crate somewhere and he followed Ahsoka onto the track that would lead them down to the village. 

“The whole village is glowing,” Ahsoka commented, sounding surprised. She momentarily paused so that he could walk alongside her.

“Well, yeah, we’re on Felucia,” Fives grunted. “Everything lights up here.” 

“No, look, they’ve decorated their houses,” she explained, pointing to the structures. Fives shifted his hold on the crate and looked more carefully. The stairways, roofs and windows of the pod-like dwellings had been adorned with glowing vines and embellished with small, colourful berries and flowers.

“It looks so pretty,” Ahsoka breathed with a smile. 

To Fives’s mind, it still looked very much like a dusty farming village but he supposed the gentle luminosity of the plant life softened the blandness of the location. Still, “Seems like a risky thing to do in the middle of a war,” he pointed out. “Why would you risk advertising yourself to an enemy?”

Ahsoka shrugged, still gazing around at the lights. “It’s Felucia, like you said - everything glows here so they’re hardly standing out, are they? Anyway, I’m sure there’s a good reason for all the trimmings. We’ll have to ask Casiss - he’s the village leader.”

“Great,” Fives muttered. He had  _ no _ interest in finding out about the purpose of the foolhardy decorations. 

“I wonder where everyone is,” Ahsoka murmured as they moved into the village proper. 

“Probably asleep,” Fives replied. “Dawn’s not far off. Not everyone’s been fighting seppies like we have.” 

She smiled at him. “True.” Then she ran her gaze over the buildings. “I can’t see any indications that there’s anything wrong. Come on, Casiss’s pod is this one,” she informed him with a nod of her head and they walked in that direction. 

“Should we wake them up?” Fives said as he lowered the crate outside the village leader’s pod. 

Ahsoka shook her head, her lekku bouncing slightly at the movement. “No need. If I know farmers, they’ll be up soon anyway. We might as well let them get their beauty sleep, and that means  _ we _ get a few minutes to rest before we have to start the journey back.” 

“Sounds good to me,” he replied, discreetly stretching out the muscles in his arms and back. 

Ahsoka laughed and for a moment he thought she was laughing at him until she said, “Look!” in a delighted voice and he felt a tug on his arm. He turned his head as he allowed himself to be steered over to whatever had pleased her so much - a sort of shelter, grotto-like structure that the Felucians had erected and decorated with white flowers and berries similar to the rest of the village. “It’s so cute!” Ahsoka let go of his arm and ducked under the lip of the glowing grotto to sit on the soft cuttings that had been used as flooring. “Come on. It’s nice down here.”

Fives knew there was little point in arguing with her. Besides, he could do with sitting down for a bit. He paused to detach his kama and belt because he could see that it was going to be somewhat of a tight squeeze. He placed them down carefully and removed his helmet as well, putting it on top of the small pile. Ahsoka patted the ground next to her with a grin, knees tucked up near her chin to make room for him. Even as his feet thanked him for taking the weight off them, he half regretted it because it was a  _ very _ tight fit. He was very aware of the line of her body pressing against the side of his armour. She didn’t seem to mind though because she turned her face towards him, so close that her lek brushed his shoulder, and said, “See? It’s nice.”

He shrugged, her body rocking slightly at his movement. “I guess,” he agreed without enthusiasm. 

She rolled her eyes at his response and he couldn’t help but notice how different they looked in the faint glow the flowers and berries cast down on them both. The vibrant turquoise or her eyes seemed to hold a greater lustre in their expressive depths. He felt almost like he was falling into them even though he knew he was sitting rigidly still. 

Ahsoka turned away from him for a moment, reaching for something, and he gave himself a quick mental shake of the head. When she turned back, she held out a woven basket that contained a couple of round objects. “Hungry?” she asked. 

He snorted softly and lifted up one of the pale pink spheres. “They look like grenades - are you sure they’re food?”

She nudged him lightly with her shoulder, making him bump into the wall of the grotto. “Of course - they’re fruit. Look.” She took it from his hand and held it up to the side of her mouth to bite into it with one of her canines, then used her fingers to prise the fruit open where she’d punctured its skin.

“Huh,” he said faintly, a little surprised by the clusters of red jewel-like fruits hidden inside. Ahsoka plucked out a few of the rubies and held them out to him in her palm. He lifted a hand to try them but, before he could grab any, she tossed the whole lot into her mouth, eyes sparkling in amusement.

“Minx,” he grumbled and she smirked at him while she chewed. “They any good?”

She nodded and swallowed. “Not too sweet,” she explained and then dug into the fruit for some more. “A bit sour. Here.” 

She deposited the berries into his waiting hand and he put one into his mouth. She scoffed slightly at his timidity. Despite its small size, the berry was surprisingly juicy and had a pleasant taste. He threw the rest into his mouth and chewed contentedly, Ahsoka doing the same. Fives held out his hand for more and she obliged. 

“This isn’t the worst spot for a bit of breakfast,” she commented lightly, eyeing the arch of the grotto with its pretty, white berries, and she then shot him a grin, “or the worst company.”

He let out a huff of laughter. “Gee, thanks.”

She shifted slightly so that she was turned more to face him. “Here, catch,” she instructed and tossed one of the seeds at his face. He made a quick attempt to catch it in his mouth but he missed and it hit his chin. 

Ahsoka giggled and tried again but it was another failure. “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that we’re too close rather than blame your coordination skills,” she teased when the third attempt was unsuccessful.

“It’s your dodgy throwing more like,” Fives retorted with mock offence as she wriggled forwards so that she could kneel outside the protection of the grotto. With the greater distance between them, she could toss the berries in a slower, higher loop that gave him more time to judge their fall and he started catching them with ease. “OK, your turn,” he said when he’d swallowed five in quick succession. He picked up the half of the fruit she’d left beside him and dug some of the berries out. “Y’know, I have high expectations here with the whole predator species thing you’ve got and how agile I know you are.” He threw one up, quick as a flash, and she darted one step to the side to catch it easily in her mouth. It soon became clear that Ahsoka was ridiculously good at their new sport.

“OK, well, now you’re just cheating,” Fives complained. He’d thrown a whole handful of berries at her and she’d stilled them using the force so that she could catch them one by one.

“You cheated first,” she countered coolly, swallowing the last one and ducking back into the grotto with him. He’d gotten used to having the whole space to himself and he had to rearrange his legs and shift over so that she could fit snugly next to him. 

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.

“This is nice,” Ahsoka sighed softly and shifted so that she was even closer to him. He knew that he shouldn’t be comfortable with that but he couldn’t find it within himself to drag up any legitimate feelings of resistance.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed. It had been an incredibly long day. To be sat here in this pretty, glowing grotto with food in his stomach, no battle looming on the horizon and Ahsoka tucked against his side - what more could he want? If this moment stretched out for an eternity he didn’t think he’d complain. 

She stirred, lifting her head from where it had been resting on his shoulder and peered out into the pre-dawn light. A few seconds later, a small figure came into view - one of the Felucians. Fives frowned. He knew that Felucians weren’t the tallest of species but this one seemed particularly compact - a kid, presumably. 

“Hey, Dinda,” Ahsoka greeted warmly, with just a touch of weariness. Fives knew that he should get out of the grotto and put the rest of his armour back on but he couldn’t bring himself to quit the warmth and closeness of Ahsoka just yet. He was reassured by her lack of movement. 

The kid came closer, peering at them curiously. “What are you doing here, Ahsoka?” 

“Fives and I dropped off some supplies to the village,” she explained, gesturing to the crate that was just outside their line of sight. “Didn’t Casiss tell you I was coming?”

“No, I mean, yes,” the little Felucian shook his head. “We knew you were coming, but I meant what are you doing  _ here _ ?” He pointed meaningfully at the grotto. Fives was immediately concerned that he and Ahsoka might’ve committed some cultural blunder but the kid didn’t look offended, only confused.

“Oh,” Ahsoka said in surprise. “Sorry, we were just resting.” She shuffled forwards and Fives shifted so that it would be easier for her. “We can get out if - ”

“ _ No! _ ” The cry was completely unexpected and surprisingly desperate. He and Ahsoka stilled at once and shared a confused look before turning back to the Felucian. 

“What’s the matter, kid?” Fives asked, eyebrow raised.

Dinda pointed to something just above their heads. “The viscum.” 

Fives glanced up and saw nothing but the same decorated archway of vines, flowers and white berries that he’d seen before. “Yeah, I’m going to need more of an explanation than that,” Fives said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

“It’s bad luck - If you’re together, you have to,” Dinda attempted to explain in short phrases that began to give Fives a headache. “Unless you’ve already…” the kid trailed off looking at them expectantly.

“Dinda,” Ahsoka said calmly, “We don’t know what you’re talking about.” Which was a much more polite way of stating what Fives was thinking. 

The kid took a step closer and pointed purposefully at the white berries. “If you’re under the viscum together you have to kiss.” 

_ Karking hell _ . 

There was a beat of silence. 

“Have to what now?” Fives asked, even though he was pretty sure he’d heard correctly the first time. 

“ _ Kiss _ ,” Dinda repeated. “Otherwise it will bring you both great misfortune.” 

“I see,” Ahsoka said, and without even looking at her Fives could tell that she was trying not to laugh. “Well, we don’t want that, do we, Fives?”

He tried to hide a quick intake of breath and looked at her sharply. There it was:  _ that _ look. The one that conveyed fun, mischief and vitality; the one that sent a jolt through his body and set his pulse racing. He was stuck for a moment because this, this  _ wasn’t _ something that they did. There was that line they didn’t cross. She quirked one of her eyebrow markings at him and then glanced meaningfully at Dinda. With great relief, he realised what she was getting at. “Yeah, no bad luck wanted here,” he said, his voice noticeably gruffer than usual and he turned to the Felucian, cheeks embarrassingly warm. “Give us some privacy, kid.” 

“Why don’t you go and get Casiss?” suggested Ahsoka. “We’ve got to be getting back soon and I’d like to see him before we go.” Dinda nodded and left, looking relieved. 

Fives let out a short breath of laughter and glanced upwards. “Kriffing  _ kissing berries _ . Load of banthashit.” He poked at the offending white berries.

“You don’t believe in luck?” 

Her question had him snapping his eyes back to her. So close. Despite the time they’d spent in the grotto he was still surprised every time he saw how close she was to him. He directed his gaze over her shoulder. “I’m a clone - one of millions created to fight a war that has already taken so many of my brothers away through no fault of their own - just a stray blaster bolt or piece of shrapnel. Simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said, his voice a little bitter. “Of course I believe in luck.” 

Ahsoka placed a comforting hand on his arm but her voice was light. “But not superstitions?” 

“No,” he said flatly. She was quiet in response. Too quiet. He looked at her in exasperation. “You’re not serious, Ahsoka.”

She laughed, eyes alight once more. “What’s the big deal? We’d just be warding off misfortune.” 

He scoffed. “It’s not real.”

“You don’t know that,” she countered coolly. “Personally, I’d rather not risk it. Come on, we’ve done far stupider things for more ridiculous reasons than this,” she pointed out. “You never had a problem then.” 

“This is different,” he insisted. “There’s a  _ line _ .”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s just a kiss, Fives. You can kiss me.”

“Is that an order, Commander?” He knew that he’d said the wrong thing at once. Her playful amusement drained away and her posture became defensive as she frowned at him. Kriff.

“I’ve never,” she murmured. “When it’s just us, when we’re,” she motioned her hand between them, indicating their rather unique rapport, “I thought we were just ourselves.” 

Fives leant his head against the grotto and closed his eyes with a sigh. “We are,” he said softly. 

“I would never order - ” she began to say but he cut her off.

“I know,” he straightened and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry.” She held his gaze for a moment and then nodded.

“So, if I’m just me and you’re just you, why won’t you kiss me? Am I that repulsive to you?” she asked. He could tell that she’d intended to inject her tone with humour but there was a definite note of insecurity there. 

His brain screamed  _ danger! _ at him. “No.” If he had to reply - and, really, he couldn’t leave her hanging like that - it was best to keep it short. This was not the time to wax lyrical about how he regarded her. He could sense her stare trying to dig out more from his answer but he maintained his calm manner and waited her out. 

She let out a huff of frustration and threw up her hands. “Then what is it?” 

This conversation was kriffing ridiculous. The only way he knew that this wasn’t a dream was because his brain never could’ve created a scenario like this. He wanted to get up and leave but he knew that wasn’t an option, not if he didn’t want to hurt her. “You’re a Jedi.” 

“So?” 

“Isn’t it against your code to kiss people?” 

“No.” 

“Wait - what?”

“ _ Attachment _ is forbidden,” she corrected him calmly, “And if you don’t think I’m already attached to you and the rest of the five-oh-first then I guess you don’t really know me as well as I thought you did.”

He rubbed a hand against his head even though his chest tingled at her words of affection. “Well, touched as I am, that’s not really a good thing for your future as a Jedi, is it?” 

“I don’t think I’d be a very good commander if I didn’t care about my men, Fives,” she told him, smiling gently. “Let’s get through this war first and then I’ll figure out how to live with my attachments afterwards.”

He gazed at her. Surely, there was no one in the galaxy like Ahsoka Tano; no one that could make him feel the way he felt about her. How she had managed to get through nearly three years of war with a heart as big as hers he had no idea. He felt an overwhelming surge of devotion towards the young woman opposite him. He would do anything for her - except, apparently what she was asking him for, but he had his reasons. “OK, well, you deserve better,” he told her, his voice hoarse. She frowned at him and he cleared his throat. “When someone kisses you, Ahsoka, it should be because they love you, because you’re the most important person in the world to them -  _ that’s _ what you deserve. I’m not going to give you your first kiss like this, for a silly superstition.” 

She laughed. “This isn’t my first kiss.” 

He flinched. “What?” 

She sighed, lekku stripes darkening. “I’ve kissed someone. Well, they kissed me.” 

Karking hell. Fives narrowed his eyes at that wording but didn’t say anything. He wanted her to elaborate - to reassure him that it didn’t sound like she’d implied - but he knew he had no right to ask her. What she did and with whom was entirely her business, even if it felt like a commando droid had his gut in a pincer-tight grip. 

“It was to maintain a cover,” she said, avoiding his gaze by looking out at the village.

Fives furrowed his brow, mind working quickly. He was pretty well acquainted with her missions over the years and he couldn’t recall hearing about one that would need  _ kissing _ as part of her assignment. What the kriff had he missed?

“It was Lux Bonteri.” 

Fives reeled back, hitting his head hard on the wall of the grotto. “That seppie senator boy who nearly got you killed by  _ karking Death Watch _ ?” he growled. 

She turned back to him with a frown. “He’s not a seppie anymore,” she said defensively. “He’s part of the reason Onderon is in the Republic again - he helped liberate his people.” 

Fives worked hard to keep his mouth shut. The Bonteri boy might have seen sense in the last few weeks but he’d still put his Commander,  _ Ahsoka _ , in incredible danger, and Fives wasn’t about to forgive and forget in a hurry. 

She laughed humourlessly and it sounded so unlike her normal self that he scowled. “I actually thought that he liked me. Maybe he did,” she shrugged sadly. “But not as much as he liked St- someone else.”

The slip wasn’t lost on Fives. He recalled the details of her secret Onderon mission - how she’d been so solemn despite it being a success. Steela Gerrera’s death wasn’t her fault (even though he knew she blamed herself) and he suspected the feelings Ahsoka had for Bonteri only made the tragedy more confusing and painful for her. He wished he could take it away for her. 

“Anyway,” she said with forced cheer. “Lux and I are just friends now and it’s, it’s good.”

“He didn’t deserve you, Ahsoka” Fives stated. Her previously tight expression softened, and a more genuine smile tugged her lips upwards.

“You’re sweet, Fives.”

He scoffed. He’d  _ never _ been called sweet in his life. She seemed to sense what he was thinking because her eyes shone in the way that he loved best, but then he became wary as she shifted so that she was kneeling before him. “So, are we doing this or what?”

He groaned. “ _ Ahsoka _ .”

“Ugh!  _ What? _ ” she complained. “What now? You said it yourself - it’s just a silly kiss. I’ve told you that I’ve had one before, so what’s another if it means we don’t incur any bad luck?”

He sighed. He knew that the Fives of a couple of years ago would’ve just shrugged and done it already; would be laughing by now with Ahsoka about the ridiculous situation they’d found themselves in. But this war and the relationships he’d developed with the people he held dear had changed him. His outlook on life and the things that really mattered had deepened into something that would be almost unrecognizable to the brash cadet who had left Kamino for the Rishi base. Those intangible connections that linked him to Skywalker, to his brothers, to Ahsoka were the greatest treasure a clone could possess. He wanted to hold them tight, keep them safe and perfect forever. Nobody could take them away from him, not even death. 

What he felt for Ahsoka, how he cherished her presence, her smile, her affection, her courage and her very spirit above all others - he would never allow himself to demean or cheapen who she was to him. 

“I can’t give you a meaningless kiss, Ahsoka,” he told her with all the conviction he could muster. He knew it wasn’t enough of an explanation, knew she wouldn’t understand what he was trying to say and he turned his gaze away from her beautiful blue orbs in frustration.

The fingers of her hand reached for his. She tugged it gently upwards and he felt his gaze pulled back to her. “Then don’t,” she breathed, placing his gloved hand against her cheek. “Don’t give me something meaningless.” 

“I - ” He had no idea why he’d opened his mouth. There were literally no coherent thoughts running through his mind. There was only the sight of Ahsoka and the way his thumb was slowly rubbing back and forth across her cheek.

She smiled and placed her other hand on his cuirass, directly over his heart. “It’s OK.” 

He forced himself to breathe. He could tell in the way that she was looking at him that she’d understood everything he hadn’t been able to find the words to say. It was both terrifying and liberating. 

“Fives?” she said softly.

“Yeah?” His voice was barely more than a whisper. 

“I want you to kiss me but only if that’s what you want, too,” she told him gently and then she smiled, eyes bright. “And it’s got  _ kriff _ all to do with those berries.” 

He laughed, feeling a rush that left him a little lightheaded, then rested his forehead against hers, taking in her words.  _ If that’s what you want _ , she’d said. Of course he wanted to kiss her - that had never been the issue. He’d long pushed aside those sorts of thoughts and desires (the ones that very much crossed that oh-so-important line), locked them away so that he could be the companion that she needed. He’d never allowed himself to imagine a scenario like this where she’d blurred that line so comprehensively. But it  _ was _ still there. Beyond this grotto there were expectations of them both that couldn’t be ignored. She would never be in a position to accept all that he was willing and able to offer her - little as that truly was given that he was a clone. She was destined for greater things than him and he had always accepted that, was so kriffing proud of her for the incredible Jedi Knight that he knew she would become. He would never do anything to stop that from coming to pass, would never try to take what could never be his. Yet here she was, telling him that he could - even if it was only for a moment. It was more than he could have ever wished for. He would never get another opportunity to gift her his devotion like this. “Ahsoka?”

“Yeah?” Her voice was shaky.

“ _ This _ is the kiss you deserve.  _ Always _ ,” he told her tenderly, thinking back to what he’d told her earlier and repeating the words in his head:  _ When someone kisses you, Ahsoka, it should be because they love you, because you’re the most important person in the world to them. _

“Fives,” she breathed, her eyes fluttering closed. Her fingers were digging into the hand that was still cradling her cheek and he could feel her trembling slightly. He pushed a little bit of affirming pressure with his forehead onto her own, and then gently touched his lips to hers. 

She was so soft, so, so soft. 

He pressed against her mouth slightly. She whimpered, pushing back tentatively at first and then more firmly as he gently moved his mouth against hers. He didn’t want to think. He only wanted to let her feel what she meant to him. 

When he realised that it had been so long since he’d taken a breath that he was in danger of blacking out, he reluctantly pulled away. He was only able to move back far enough to gasp in some much-needed air before she made a noise of protest and pulled him back to her with one hand gripping the edge of his cuirass, another sliding into the hair at the back of his head. He let out a short grunt of approval at the sensation and captured her lower lip between his own, tugging it tenderly. She responded by tightening her fingers in his hair and he shuddered, previously unaware that he found that so stimulating. 

Someone cleared their throat very loudly, startling Fives and Ahsoka away from each other. Through the fog in his brain, Fives saw that Dinda was back, half-hiding behind an older Felucian. Kriff, that was embarrassing. If they’d been an enemy they could’ve shot Fives dead at point blank range and he wouldn’t have even been aware of anything wrong. 

“Casiss,” Ahsoka greeted a little breathlessly. Fives saw her discreetly touch her fingers to her lips as she clambered to her feet. “How lovely to see you.” 

Head spinning and heart thumping wildly, Fives followed her lead and exited the grotto. He grabbed his helmet and jammed it onto his head to hide from Dinda’s gawking expression. 

“And you, Padawan Tano,” Casiss said, amusement clear in his voice. “Apologies for the interruption but Dinda was under the impression that you were eager to return to your troops.” The words, ‘and you didn’t look like stopping any time soon,’ weren’t spoken but the implication was very much there and Fives cringed, thankful for the sanctuary of his helmet. 

Ahsoka, though, had no such luxury. The stripes on her lekku were near-black, but it’s possible that they were already like that from his kiss. She forced a smile on her face. “We were, um, just being thorough - nobody wants bad luck, do they?”

Karking hell!  _ Being thorough _ ? Fives nearly dropped his belt at her explanation as his fingers fumbled with reattaching the mechanism. 

“A wise precaution,” Casiss said seriously and Fives couldn’t tell whether the old guy was being genuine or not. “Disrespecting the Earth-Mother in a matrimonial hollow would certainly be an inauspicious start to the day for us all.” 

“ _ Oh _ ,” Ahsoka said with understanding, turning back to glance at the structure that they had all started to walk away from. “It was for a wedding? We wondered why the village was all decorated.”

Casiss nodded. “I presided over the ceremony yesterday. It was a great day of celebration.” 

Fives snorted into his helmet at the words. Yesterday, only a few klicks from this wedding, he’d been in a fierce fire-fight and brothers had been lost. He couldn’t marry up the two images in his head - pun unintended. But that’s why this war was happening: so that the people of the Republic could have the freedom to actually live their lives. 

They had reached Casiss’s pod and the large crate that Fives had kriffing lugged all the way here. The village elder profusely thanked them both for the gift and Ahsoka promised that she would bring more if she ever found herself in their vicinity again - which, going by Felucia’s war record, wouldn’t be a long time coming. 

Fives and Ahsoka had taken their first few steps back to the 501st when she turned back, a grin on her face. “Hey - Casiss,” she called and the elder looked at her expectantly. “Fives and I aren’t married now or anything, are we?” 

Fives froze. He’d been actively trying to stop himself from thinking back to the grotto. He didn’t regret kissing her, far from it, but reality had sharply come back to them and he was ARC trooper Fives now, at least until it was just the two of them again. It was more than likely going to be a bit uncomfortable being alone with Ahsoka and he did  _ not _ need to think about the prospect of accidentally marrying her, even if it was just her idea of a teasing joke. Kriff - it had better be just a joke. 

Through his HUD, Fives saw Casiss smile and some of the tension in Fives’s shoulder diminished. “Farming weddings are simple but they’re not  _ that  _ simple,” the village elder replied. “As long as you didn’t feed each other any roma fruit, you and your trooper are fine, Padawan Tano.” 

Fives choked on his breath and whirled around.  _ Kriffing, karking hells! _

“Roma fruit?” Ahsoka squeaked out. 

“To us farmers, the ruby berries inside are a symbol of hope and prosperity, marriage and fertility,” Casiss explained. “Intended couples feed each other berries to represent their devotion to each other.” 

In his frantic mind, Fives saw an image of Ahsoka throwing jewel-like berries for him to eat and then him doing the same for her.

“And then the union is sealed beneath the viscum berries in the presence of the village elder,” Casiss continued, apparently oblivious to the life-altering news he had delivered to the young people before him. “Like I said - simple, but no less meaningful.”

_ Meaningful _ . Shab. Of  _ all _ the words, that had to come back to haunt him, echoing in his brain:  _ I can’t give you a meaningless kiss, Ahsoka… Then don’t… _ Turns out he really hadn’t. 

Ahsoka caught his eyes, even through the helmet, as though she knew what he was thinking: they were completely farkled and, apparently,  _ married _ .

Kriff, he hated Felucia. 

**Author's Note:**

> Did any of you see that coming?
> 
> This was intended as a SHORT, SILLY mistletoe-inspired fic and ended up a bit of a monster with actual feels and everything. I have NEVER written such a long one-shot, I'm honestly a little mad about it! 
> 
> Viscum is the genus of about 70-100 species of mistletoe and roma (really - romã) is the Portuguese word for pomegranate. It didn't feel right to use the English terms for some reason. 
> 
> I'm sorry about the confusing reminiscing-inception part with the eating competition. I desperately wanted to include it and couldn't think of another way except as a memory inside a memory.
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed the fic - let me know!
> 
> Keep safe, everyone.


End file.
